Bee Active, They Need Our Help

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petition_bannerI steer clear of activism here for a number of reason, today however will be an exception. My friend Gail and I were discussing the recent detrimental decisions of the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) concerning the plight of bees. We decide to work on a White House petition together. When I went to set up our petition at the We the People page, I found an existing petition. While our petition would've been directed at the EPA, this petition is great.  I encourage you to sign it, and share this petition with your network. As I write this post, 98,415 more signatures are needed by June 27, 2013 to get a response for the Obama administration. With your help, this can happen.

The recent decisions by the EPA that spurred me and Gail to take action are;

The approval of a new active ingredient called sulfoxaflor. With this approval, the EPA state Environment l Hazards  in their own document that acknowledges how toxic this is to bees. This raises serious concern to me about the what the current intent of the EPA is about, and the impact this product will have on bees. This screenshot, page 3 of the pdf, Notice of Pesticide Registration EPA Registration Number 62719-623;

Screen Shot Notice of Pesticide Registration EPA Registration Number 62719-623

So, as you can see from their own documentation, they acknowledge it's highly toxic to bees. On page 17 of this pdf, they have an Advisory Pollinator Statement;

Notifying known beekeepers within 1 mile of the treatment area 48 hours before the product is applied will allow them to take additional steps to protect their bees. Also limiting application to times when managed bees and native pollinators are least active, e.g., before 7 am or after 7pm local time or when temperature is below 55oF at the site of application, will minimize risk to bees.

This is not acceptable, especially since bees are under enormous environmental pressure now.

Than there's this decision;

Last week, CBS News "checked in" with EPA about its review. The agency's response: it "should be completed in five years." Which means at least another half-decade of vast swaths of lands planted with neonic-treated crops.

Again, not acceptable. While Europe moves sanely ahead, the EPA here in America is remiss in their duty to protect the environment. After all that the bees do for us, isn't it time we stood up for them?

Here's a press release from the American Bird Conservatory for the study cited in this petition.

Please sign here.

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